In which there are many meetings.
Many meetings, and more reintroductions, and an innocent request concerning grapes that may or may not turn into something larger.
Continue reading
Neogenesis – Chapter 1 part II
2 Replies
Tag Archives: Beck
Dragon in Exile – Chapter 35
Boss Nova’s House
Blair Road
Surebleak
In which Vel Ter jo’Bern appreciates art.
The drunken ne’er-do-well has a good name; an earlier Vel Ter jo’Bern was the head of House Hedrede during the Migration, and one of the negotiators on the Contract.
It’s nice to see the crisis pass with good feeling on all sides, though I do wonder if Vel Ter is able to view the situation with some distance on account of the distance that exists between himself and his clan; I suspect Delm Hedrede will be less appreciative of Luken’s artistry when the news reaches him. But less inclined to do anything about it, so there’s that.
Necessity’s Child – Epilogue
In which Rys Lin pen’Chala goes home.
What Syl Vor is missing, I think, when he says that he is only a boy, is that after his experiences at the Rock he wasn’t only a boy.
Third iteration of the question of a missing ship, and on carefully re-reading it I realise that when Val Con says he’s heard from his sister he’s probably talking about Anthora, after she went through Rys’s mind checking for traces of the Department, and not that Nova brought him in on the earlier discussion. So, if this is a separate discussion, the subject of the earlier query probably was the Bedel ship after all.
(One of the free perks of reading this blog is, and will probably remain till the end, that you get to see me prove myself wrong in real time, sometimes more than once on the same issue.)
The status report on Momma Liberty (out of Waymart, I notice) contains a couple of interesting hints. Apart from establishing that Jasin is not only alive but flourishing, it’s notable for the absence of her brother in his former position of authority or in any other. Normal attrition, or did he get busted by his family over what he did to Rys? Or did he meet, in some dark alley, an agent of the Department tasked with tying off loose ends?
Coming up: “Skyblaze”, “Roving Gambler” and “The Rifle’s First Wife”, and then Dragon Ship.
Necessity’s Child – Chapter 28
In which Syl Vor and Kezzi are early to school.
And this, of course, is exactly the kind of thing one might expect to happen when a child of Korval promises to be no more trouble than necessary.
We’re getting a lot more Surebleak street names in this book than we have before. I wonder if the authors had their own map, and played their own version of the school route-learning game.
Necessity’s Child – Chapter 26
In which Kezzi has dinner with her family.
The description of the “yellow plate with a design that might have been flowers or birds, or both, painted around the edge” reminds me of this plate, which comes from a 19th-century English dinnerware set that inspired the classic young adult novel The Owl Service. It’s been long enough since I read The Owl Service myself, though, that I don’t have any definite thoughts about what might be suggested by the comparison, even assuming it’s not just a coincidence.
Necessity’s Child – Chapter 23
In which Rys’s brothers give him a hand.
We continue to get to know Syl Vor’s classmates as he does. Kaleb’s family seem to know a thing or two about medicine, though whether it’s professional interest or just practical experience isn’t clear yet. Several of them have grandmothers, which is reassuring considering some of the stories we’ve heard about life expectancy on Surebleak, or cats, or both. I like the way Syl Vor disarms Rudy’s attack.
Rys is worrying again about the missing part of his memory, and how the person he is without it might differ from the person he would be with it. He may be right to do so, considering that even when he thinks he’s got all his memories of yesterday back he’s still missing any memory of his conversation with the lady who recognised him. (And is that his memory sequestering the conversation because it relates to other stuff he’s not ready to face, or did she do it somehow?)
Necessity’s Child – Chapter 21
In which Syl Vor’s mother Sees Kezzi.
Hey, it’s been a while since I speculated about something and was proven wrong in the very next chapter. Nova sounds very much as if she did do something particular to get the truth out of Kezzi.
In context, the lady’s assertion that she had “learned elsewhere” of Rys’s misfortune has a bit of a sinister ring to it. One wonders after the health of her informant or informants (and of the agents of Rys’s misfortune, if that’s not saying the same thing two ways).
Necessity’s Child – Chapter 20
In which Kezzi sees Syl Vor’s mother.
Despite their differences, there are some points of similarity between the Bedel way and the Liaden way. “No Balance nor keeping of debts between kin” is one of them.
It’s been said that most of Korval’s children, if they’re not full Healers or wizards, have some small gift, a touch of telepathy or a persuasiveness that goes just a bit beyond force of personality. I’m trying to remember if Nova’s been said to have anything in that line, because it would explain why Kezzi actually answers when Nova asks for her real name.
No, it came back to me as I was typing: Nova’s gift is Remembering. But then again, it wasn’t her who instructed Kezzi to answer truthfully – maybe it’s Syl Vor‘s gift.
Necessity’s Child – Chapter 16
In which Syl Vor and his mother discuss his first day at school.
It’s probably one of those things where, once you start noticing them, they’re all over the place: Pounce the house medic shares his name with a member of the Trealla Fantrol crew back on Liad. Definitely not the same person, though, because in addition to being male he isn’t a cat.
Back on the Rock, Syl Vor was held to a very high level of responsibility (higher than would be normal for a boy his age), because it was just a small group of them in a tight circumstance, and everybody’s actions counted. It wouldn’t be appropriate to hold him to the same standard on Surebleak, where there’s more people to spread the responsibility around and where he’s not familiar with the territory and can’t always know what effect any given action will have, and it’s clear that his mother isn’t holding him to that standard – but also that he’s holding himself to it still.
On the Rock, he was also held to a very high standard of behaviour, but that was just because the standard was being set by Kareen, who’s used to the company of well-trained adults and probably doesn’t know how to make allowances for children who are still learning (the more so since she got past that phase so quickly herself). It’s good to see that Nova is establishing a more forgiving standard in this area too.
Necessity’s Child – Chapter 10
In which Nova has visitors.
I find myself wondering how much of Boss Schroeder’s apparent concern for the safety of his turf’s children is politically motivated, which is perhaps unjust. Presumably he has some level of genuine concern for his people, or he wouldn’t be in on the school project to begin with.
Continuing the theme of there only being so many names to go around, Nova’s assistant Veeno has a very similar name to Veena, who was one of Boss Moran’s ‘hands back before Boss Conrad took over. It’s definitely not the same woman, though, since Veena, like Boss Moran, was one of those who didn’t survive the initial free and frank exchange of views.
I am amused that Nova and Syl Vor are seen to be making the same assessment of Nova’s role at more or less the same moment.